~ Victorian Servants Challenge ~

MagicalPanda2003

This is a Sims 4 update of the Sims 3 Servitude Challenge created by mickeysimmouse. I have always had a special love for the Victorian era, especially the social class and servant aspect and this challenge fits my style of gameplay. I'm also a massive fan of period dramas (especially Downton Abbey) and loved the idea of creating my own little period drama in the Sims.
As I don't have the Sims 3, I wanted to update it for the Sims 4. I believe that the closest challenge to this is the Hired Help Challenge (for which there is a Sims 4 version).
I decided to replace the gardener with the butler servant type - gardeners aren't as necessary in sims 4 so the butler seemed more fitting.

Background
The Master of the House has just inherited the property and household from his father. As an only child he was precious to his parents and brought up to be their successor.
The household is upper-middle class and has an already established social order (some old servants and some newer ones); however, that might all change depending on how the new Master and Lady decide to run the household. Will they be benevolent and modern or strict and demanding?

Starting Out

• Create your Master and Lady of the house. They are a newlywed, YA couple and can have whatever traits you like. It is advised that they have period clothing fitting of their station (Vintage Glamour Stuff would be great if you have it)
• Create 5 sims, these will be your servants. They can have whatever traits you desire (plus the one or two specific to their rank). It is advised that they have Georgian/Victorian/Edwardian clothing fitting of their station as servants.
• It is advised that you choose a single world (eg. Brindleton Bay or Willow Creek) to be your Victorian town
• Create the house, it should look as period appropriate as possible (no showers, washing machines, computers, etc) . You can use any money cheats you like but make sure to include separate servant’s quarters (Including the kitchen/diner as separate for them).
• After the house is made, set the funds to 10,000. (ctr+alt+c then testingcheats true then money 10000)
• This challenge is mainly from the viewpoint of the servants so have autonomy on for the family, but you can play with them sometimes, obviously.

Servant Types (listed in order of social standing)

Butler (Male)

• Must have “Perfectionist” Trait
• Responsible for paying bills and managing servants
• Advise master of the house (must be good friends with him) and help him get ready in the morning
• Prepare the wine and drinks for dinner (mixology skill will be useful)

Cook (Generally female in a household of this size)

• Must have “Master Chef” aspiration and “Foodie” trait
• Cook everything (meals, birthday cakes) and extra courses if company
• At least level 5 Cooking, Gourmet Cooking and Baking
• Take care of the kitchen garden (where herbs are grown)
• Meet with the lady of the house at least once a week to arrange menus

Lady’s Maid (Female)

• Must have “Cheerful” trait
• Be BFF with the lady of the house
• Must be around the age of the lady of the house
• Responsible for small cleaning tasks and keeping the lady entertained
• Help the lady of the house to get ready in the morning

Nursemaid (Female)

• Must have “Family Oriented” trait
• Responsible for caring for all babies, toddlers and children
• Responsible for teaching toddlers and children skills and helping with homework
• Must have logic level 3 before babies become toddler, Level 5 before toddler to children

Housemaid (Female)

• Must have the “Neat” trait
• Responsible for any type of cleaning (Mopping, dishes, laundry, etc)

OPTIONAL: Governess (Female) or Tutor (Male)

• Must have the "Renaissance Sim" aspiration and "Bookworm" trait
• Should only be brought into the household when the oldest child becomes a teen and leave when the youngest becomes a young adult
• Takes over from the Nurse teaching the teenagers and making sure they have high logic skills
• Treated as more of a member of the family than the other servants although still below the butler in social standing in and out of the house

Family Relevant Rules

• The Master may have any of the following careers: Business, Scientist, Critic, Painter, Writer, Lawyer or Doctor (or Criminal if you want - a shadier way to earn their fortune). Any other career would be beneath the Upper-Middle Victorian class, and the Political career would mean they're in the 1% much wealthier, and would have many more servants than possible to play in the Sims
• No careers for women, they should be married to the most available bachelor and move in with them, or they may become a Nurse (doctor career to stage 3 and then stop advancing). These women can live with the family or do it Florence Nightingale style and live alone in a small, respectable house.
• The family should eat 3 fresh-cooked meals a day in the dining room with dinner being a formal event which children are NOT allowed to attend
• Children should not have their own room until they are teenagers. They should live in the nursery until then and typically wouldn't join their parents for meals either (although exceptions may be made)
• Children of both genders can go to school (as there are no home-school options) but only male teens may go to school or university
• Boys are encouraged to learn the athletic skill. Girls are encouraged to learn art and music. Both genders may be taught their respective skills by their nursemaid/governess or by their parents.
• Both genders should be at least level 6 logic skill
• Men are expected to marry or at least move out as they become a YA. Only the oldest male remains to inherit the house and servants and should take on his father’s career.
• Roll a dice to calculate try for baby (about a 1/5 or 20% chance)
• The family cannot marry below their station (Although there can be some forbidden romances) If they do, they will be kicked out, the same as women who take a forbidden career
• Women who become pregnant out of wedlock must either marry the father before the baby is born, be kicked out of the house or go into confinement from 2nd trimester onwards and have the baby raised as not their own (a sibling maybe?)

Servant Relevant Rules

• If you have both males and females in your staff, they can have relationships/get married/have children of their own. This was a common occurrence, especially in big households with many servants.
• Servant children can go to school when they are children, but not when they are teens (unless there is a particularly smart male teen - grammar school)
• Family must not have any leftovers eaten from the fridge; whereas servants can only have food the family didn’t eat
• The Kitchen should be a sort of communal servants’ space
• Only the Butler and Lady's Maid (and Governess/Tutor if applicable) may be familiar with the family. However, the nursery maid should have a close relationship with all their charges
• All friendships/relationships between staff members must only be built when everyone has completed their work for the day. Example: the cook has made all the meals, the maid has finished cleaning, the nursemaid has put the children to bed, etc.
• Servant children in the household should not have a full role as a servant until they are teenagers. Instead they should act as assistants to their parents and help with menial cleaning roles. They are also allowed to act as companions to and play with children of the family.
• Servant children should share a room with either their parents, siblings or other servant children until they are a teenager when they are treated as a full member of the household staff.
• Illegitimate children of the master of the house are to be raised as servants if the woman is married, if not she can either be kicked out of the household with the child or the child raised as a member of the household and the mother remaining as a servant
• The Family is not allowed to care for children of the servants. The servants may care for each other’s; for example, if the cook has a baby, the maid may feed it if the cook is busy. The servants look after their own. But they may not be any burden at all on The Family. It is not their job to take care of it.

Legacy Gameplay

• Servants of the new generation may be offspring of servants of the old generation. This is recommended. However, if they did not have enough children, or if there is nobody for the children to reproduce with when the time comes, you may "hire" new help by creating new sims and moving them in, or by meeting unemployed sims around town and moving them in, or by a servant adopting children and having them take on the role of a servants child.
• Alternatively, it may be that children of a servant don’t wish to follow their parents into domestic service and leave the household to get married and have a different job. You can still play them from time to time and perhaps their children will come back to the household at some point
• The children of the servants and the children of the Master/Lady of the House may be friends as children but should drift apart as they get older. Alternatively, perhaps a daughter to a servant can grow into a lady's maid for one of the children or a particularly smart son could become butler
• The children of servants should start to learn their parents' job as soon as possible (this is an example of when a cook may be male). They should also "inherit" their parents' given trait. Example: If the butler and the cook have a son, he should "inherit" the perfectionist trait or the foodie trait, or both.
• The 'estate' must be inherited by the closest male relative to the heir before (like the British succession), only if there is no male son of the previous heir, then (and only then) the closest female relative may inherit

Hope you have fun playing and let me know what you think Xx

MagicalPanda2003

Some useful mod and CC links (I only play with maxis match cc so the links are purely for that style of cc)

Mods
MC Command Center
No School

Period CC
Dresses (Elfdor)
More Dresses (retro pixels)
General Clothing (Linzlu)
Recolours (Vintagesimmer)
More Recolours (double plumbob)
Lower Class Clothing (Plumbob Tea Society)
Upper Class Clothing (Plumbob Tea Society)

simp0ssible

This looks amazing! I wanted to express my gratitude because clearly you've been very thorough.